Building a Solid Foundation: Part 2

Alright, last week we started our new series on the / / Sermon on the Mount, which is going to be our focus for the majority of this year, digging into the words of Jesus that describe what life should look like for us as his followers. And more specifically, we started last week with a short little two week series on building a solid foundation.

So, last week and this week we are setting the groundwork, or the framework for what we are going to be looking at throughout the year. What we are talking through right now is going to kind of keep us on task, or always be a reference point for what we are looking at.

Last week we kind of carried over from our first week of the year where we talked through how to keep focus in 2024.

/ / Be around Jesus / God

/ / Do what Jesus said

/ / Engage with His Body / the Church

So that can all be boiled down to this thought: To fulfill all that we are in Christ, we have to not just know WHO he is, but truly know him, to learn from him, to follow him. And we do that with other people who are also following him. And as we learn his ways, we are both transformed ourselves, and then become an agent of transformation in the lives of others as we reflect who Jesus is in this earth.

We can’t fulfill all that God has for us in life if we do not do those three things. Follow Him closely - close enough to truly get to know him, Learn from Him and do what he says, and be His body together. As we do that, we are able to do what He did and fulfill His purposes in this earth.

So, to do that we have to dig into what he said, and Matthew 5-7, what we call the Sermon on the Mount, is really a large portion of teachings from Jesus that outline what life should look like for people who are following Him.

Remember what we saw from the book of Matthew. It’s like Matthew, as he’s writing these things, makes a b-line directly for this teaching.

Chapter 1-4 are quick, covering a lot of ground. Jesus’ birth, childhood, baptism, temptation, and right into the start of His ministry. But, I want to focus for a bit on this verse that precedes the sermon, that is really the foundation that we have been laying last week and this week, what it is all about. It’s this little insight that Matthew gives us. Matthew 4:17 says, / / From then on Jesus began to preach, “Repent of your sins and turn to God, for the Kingdom of Heaven is near.”

Interesting how he says it. From then on… It’s like this was the message. And everywhere Jesus went, he started with, “Repent of your sins and turn to God, for the Kingdom of Heaven is near”, and then would get into whatever it was he was going to say or do. That’s kind of how it sounds.

The reason I want to take a moment to go through this verse though, is because it can be a bit confusing, or at least, in my experience and what I have seen from how others live or interpret this verse, the church hasn’t gone deep enough into it. To truly understand this verse we have to look at that little phrase there, / / “Repent of your sins and turn to God.” because it’s a lot more than just saying, “God, I’m sorry for doing that bad thing.”

It’s more than what we would call, “The sinners prayer” of inviting Jesus into our heart.

It’s also more than just words. And I hope you’re starting to see that. That when Jesus steps into our lives he’s inviting us to so much more than just believing that He’s God, that He died for us, that He rose again and that He’s the savior of the world. Belief is necessary, but belief is also supposed to be leading us to something much more.

So, these words, Repent of your sins and turn to God.

Let’s break it down a bit.

/ / Repent. Somewhere along the line we have reduced repent to apologize, or ask forgiveness. And that is because that is essentially what the word means. If you look up the word repent in an English dictionary it says, / / to feel or express regret or remorse about one’s wrongdoing or sin.

Now, true repentance may involve regret. It may involve remorse. It may involve that feeling of guilt in doing things wrong. But the word that is used here, originally written in greek, is / / metanoeo, and it means to think differently, to reconsider, to change one’s mind. The closest we get to the definition of repentance is that Strong’s bible concordance says, / / to change one’s mind for better, heartily to amend with abhorrence of one’s past sins.

Abhorrence means to look at with disgust.

So, let’s reframe this for a second. Instead of defining repent as “apologizing out of deep shame for doing bad things” let’s say, / / “seeing sin for what it really is, and being disgusted by it, seeing a better way and choosing it” We can call this a working theory, alright?

Let’s keep going and piece this together.

/ / Repent of your sins and turn to God.

Ok, Sin is a big one. And the NLT, which we are reading out of says it that way, “Repent of your sins”, but the ESV simply says, / / “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” No mention of sin.

I think this is important to notice, because it plays into the idea we have put around repentance and sin.

First, let’s define sin. English dictionary, / / an immoral act considered to be a transgression against divine law. An act regarded as a serious offense.

That’s heavy, isn’t it? It reduced sin to an act that is either right or wrong. Not a bad definition, but is this what Jesus is saying? Especially when the ESV doesn’t even include the word. And I think you’ll see why as we go more into it here.

Let’s look at what Paul writes in Romans 3:23, he says, / / For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard.

or the ESV says it this way, / / for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.

Both use the word sinned. Now, we can’t look at Matthew 4:17 for comparison, because the original greek text doesn’t include the word ‘sin’, the translators of the NLT added the phrasing they did in hopes it would help people understand what Jesus was saying when he says “repent”. Not a bad thing, just an interpretation of the phrase, rather than a word for word interpretation, which is more along the lines of what the ESV says.

But, we can go over to another verse where Jesus definitely does use this word. John 8:11, if you remember the story of the woman caught in adultery. She’s dragged before Jesus, thrown at his feet and the pharisees ask what should be done about her. Now, the law says she should be stoned to death. Jesus has been preaching grace and mercy. They are trying to trap him, to see if he will go against the law of Moses. Jesus sees right through it, and asks them if anyone else has zero sin, and if so, then they can throw the first stone. They all leave one by one. Just like us. Just like Paul says. All have sinned. So, Jesus turns to the woman and says, / / “Where are your accusers? Didn’t even one of them condemn you?”

“No, Lord,” she said.

And Jesus said, “Neither do I. Go and sin no more.”

Same word. Go and sin no more.

That word is / / hamartanō and it means, to miss the mark, and so not share in the prize. To miss or wander from the path of uprightness and honor, to do or go wrong. To wanter from the law of God, violate God’s law, sin.

Ok, so in biblical translation we choose the best word. And sometimes that can add a bit of confusion based on what we use the english word for. Or how it’s defined. Sometimes the words written in the original biblical manuscripts have a greater definition, or there are sometimes subtle differences.

Ok, I’ve had this happen, I am only fluent in English. But I’ve preached in countries where they primarily speak another language. When we were in Norway this would happen. I would preach with an interpreter, and sometimes the interpreter would have a hard time coming up with the word I was saying, and people in the congregation would sort of start offering alternative words, and they might pass around a bit until finally they would all as a group come to a consensus on what word to use to describe what I was saying.

I’ve had that happen here too, talking through someone who is interpreting into Spanish what I am saying in English and there’s a bit of back and forth until they land on the right word.

Or someone will use a Spanish phrase, or a cultural phrase, and everyone laughs, and I’m the only one that doesn’t understand and they’re like, “Yeah, it doesn’t really make sense in english” “It doesn’t translate well”. And then I just feel left out.

This can happen when people read the bible. Or if they’ve been taught a certain thing out of scripture.

Ask 100 people on the street what sin is and you’ll get some interesting results. I read an article that was going through some survey results on this very thing.

Now, I’m just going to share a bit of this. I want you to see something. The first article I read was published in 2008. 16 years ago. / / In 2008, 87% of Americans believe in the concept of sin.

Concept of sin was defined as / / something that is almost always considered wrong, particularly from a religious or moral perspective.

It went on to say that a significant majority of Americans agreed that the following were sins:

Adultery (81%)

Racism (74%)

Hard drugs such as cocaine, heroine, meth, LSD (65%)

Not saying something if the cashier gives you too much money back (63%)

Abortion (56%)

Then things begin to go down from there:

Most sexual sins fit in the 40-50% range of people thinking they were actually a sin or not. Only 43% of people said thinking about someone that wasn’t your spouse is a sin. No wonder we have such a huge problem with relationships staying together these days. Only 45% of people said that having sex before marriage was a sin. What that’s saying is that from a sexual perspective, the world tends to think anything goes, except adultery, which still landed at 81%. I guess that means that people still thing, if you’ve made a commitment, you should keep it. I would say people care less about the act of adultery being wrong, it’s more that people still don’t like being betrayed.

And the numbers just kept going down.

30% Gambling

29% Telling a little “white lie” to not hurt someone’s feelings

23% Tobacco

18% Not attending church on a regular basis

18% Playing the lottery

18% Watching an R Rated Movie

17% Being significantly overweight

16% Not tithing 10% to the church

14% Drinking ANY alcohol (41% getting drunk)

4% Dancing

Now, I’m not saying all of that is a sin. But, remember, 87% of Americans in 2008 that were surveyed here came back saying they believed in the concept of sin.

Jump ahead 12 years. Another survey was done, called the American Worldview Inventory in 2020. This is staggering.

63% of people said that it doesn’t matter what your faith is, just having some sort of religious faith is what matters.

And of that number 68% of those described themselves as Christians.

Now that to me is unreal. But here’s where we get back to the sin question.

so, 87% in 2008 said that sin is a thing.

By 2020 this particular survey found only 56% said they consciously and consistently try to avoid sin. So, that’s not the same question, believing in a concept of sin, but it shows how much people care to actually live their lives not doing it, and if only 56% said so, then a lot of people, whether they believe in sin or not, don’t care whether they do it or not.

Get this:

52% of people who see themselves a Christians accept some sort of a “works-oriented” means of God’s acceptance. Meaning, you don’t need Jesus, you just have to be a good person. 48% of people believe that if you’re generally good, or do enough good things in your life you can tip the scales and earn your place in Heaven. And only 35%, one third of people actually disagree with that notion.

The majority of people asked in this survey said:

58% said there is no absolute more truth (58%)

77% said right and wrong are determined by factors OTHER than the Bible (77%)

59% said the bible is not the authoritative and true word of God (59%)

69% said people are basically good (69%)

That is shocking. Every single one of those. 58%, 77%, 59%, 69%, every single one goes directly against what the Bible says. Ok, all of this is to prove a point - There is obviously some confusion about sin. What it is. What it does to us. How we fix it. If it even needs fixing.

And I think the confusion is the same on either side of the argument, whether you care about it, or reject it.

When look at sin as “You did a bad thing that deserves punishment”, we want to reject what that sin is, because it makes us feel bad, and we don’t like to feel bad. If you notice there’s a huge agenda at the moment being pushed about living your life for what brings you pleasure - regardless of whether it is traditionally, or biblically viewed as sin or not. Right?

So, when your definition of biblical sin is the definition we read from the english dictionary, an immoral act considered to be a transgression against divine law, you might feel inclined to reject that.

So, let’s ask a question:

/ / Why is it so easy for people to not live by what the Bible says? Or let me put it another way. Why do you think it’s so easy for people to simply just dismiss the bible as authoritative? As having any sort of authority for their lives? They might even view it as a sacred text. A survey done in 2013 showed that 88% of Americans own a bible. That’s a very high number. But what they didn’t ask is how many of them actually read it. There’s an old joke I heard the other day, We would have a national crisis from a dust storm if all the people who owned a bible picked it up and brushed it off.

Kaylee’s school had what they call “spiritual emphasis” week, this past week, so instead of having chapel just once, they had it everyday, they have a guest speaker come in. It’s like a mini-conference for kids. It’s amazing. And each day of the week they invited the parents from a different grade to come and join in. So on Friday morning we got to go take in chapel with Kaylee at her school. It was really cool. The speak had so much energy. Man, I don’t have that in me, engaging with an auditorium full of k-5th graders! But of course, while speaking he asked. “What does Bible stand for?” The B.I.B.L.E. yes that’s the book for me!

Now, if you grew up as a Christian, you have probably heard that B.I.B.L.E. stands for / / Basic Instructions Before Leaving Earth.

So, what is it that stops people from embracing the Bible as the thing that can give them instruction for their lives here on earth?

Let me ask you another question. Do you need to live by the laws of Canada? Or Great Britain, or Germany. How about China? Do we need to follow the laws of China? North Korea? While we are here, living in the US.

Of course not. Why? Because we aren’t governed by that land because we don’t live there. Right?

Now, let’s make an argument. If I go to China, and I break their laws, but I’m still American, I haven’t immigrated, I haven’t become a citizen. I’m just there visiting. Can they still charge me? Can they still require me to follow their laws?

Yes. Why? Because I am in that land. I am in their country. And when you are in a sovereign space you must follow that spaces rules and regulations. Right? I think everyone understands that.

So, this brings up another question:

Who owns the world? Superseding every government on this earth. No, I’m not talking about the WEF.

Psalm 24:1, / / The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it. The world and all its people belong to him.

Deuteronomy 10:14, / / “Look, the highest heavens and the earth and everything in it all belong to the Lord your God.”

So, who’s space are we ultimately in? And is that just us as Christians? Or, let’s ask this:

Who’s space is the rest of the world in, regardless of whether or not they believe, regardless of whether or not they give any authority to the bible, or God, or anything else. Who’s space are they in?

Think of it this way. I am in America. I can’t just ignore the laws of America.

See how far that gets you. And it’s not crazy these days to think people try. Just look at how this world is at the moment, where you actually see situations where people say, “I don’t abide by that law, sorry.” or “I don’t recognize that authority.”

Now, I’m not getting political here, this just happens to be a really great example. We saw it in 2016. A whole movement of people trying to say that the elected president was “not their president”. “No, we just won’t live by that, he’s not our president, we didn’t vote for him.” Let me ask you. Did that matter? Did it change anything? No, of course not. The election was over, and the president was in office.

Same can be said for 2020. Again, I’m not making political statements here, I’m looking at the state of our world, the state of our country and saying, we have a very warped sense of authority and our relation to it. Here we are, four years later and there are people who themselves don’t “recognize” the authority of the sitting president. Yet, the law of the land still applies to them, regardless of how much they complain.

Again, all political discussions aside, we can have those over a coffee sometime. But does any of that, any of our opinions, or recognition of authority change whether we will get arrested if we go outside and start speeding, defacing property, hurting people, commit murder, or whatever else we might get ourselves into. No, of course not. There is an authority and we live under it by the very nature that we decided to live here.

That’s why we have the saying, “If you don’t like it here, go somewhere else.” right?

So, in the same way, if the Lord owns the earth and he is the authority over it all, then everyone who lives on the earth is subject to his authority whether they like it or not, whether they identify it as their authority or not, whether they even acknowledge his existence or not.

Now, and this is just a bonus we’re not going to get into, and don’t think on it too hard.

But, who are the only people who don’t have to follow the rules of another country?

Ambassadors, right? They have what’s called diplomatic immunity.

What are we called? What does scripture say about us? Now, you have to hear this in context, this is not license to do what you want, this is license to do what HE wants. And I’m going to read this passage from 2 Corinthians because it is a really powerful explanation of what Christ has done and what our role is in this earth being under His authority which supersedes the authority of the world.

2 Corinthians 5:16-21, / / So we have stopped evaluating others from a human point of view. At one time we thought of Christ merely from a human point of view. How differently we know him now! This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun1 And all of this is a gift from God, who brought us back to himself through Christ. And God has given us this task of reconciling people to him. For God was in Christ, reconciling the world to himself, no longer counting people’s sins against them. And he gave us this wonderful message of reconciliation. So we are Christ’s ambassadors; God is making his appeal through us. We speak for Christ when we plead, “Come back to God!” For God made Christ, who never sinned, to be the offering for our sin, so that we could be made right with God through Christ.

Not ambassadors for our own good, or our own immunity, so we can get away with not following the laws of this land, but as those who have been given the message of reconciliation for those who do not yet believe, so that they can enjoy the life that comes through choosing to follow Jesus and living in His Kingdom.

I think one of the worst thing that can happen, and we’ve seen this time and time again in our country, is that someone adopt an “us vs. them” mentality. And that’s true of any situation, but most of all when it comes to our place in Christ. It’s not us vs. them, it’s us AND those who do not yet believe, who we are called to minister to with this great message of reconciliation. It’s Us and the Mission we’ve been given!

What’s reconciliation mean? It means to restore. This is Paul saying, “We are given the awesome responsibility to bring people BACK to a relationship with the God who gave his life for them.” Regardless of whether they have or do believe, they’ve always been God’s creation. And the reconciliation is us turning back to a God that has never turned away from us. Restoring the relationship that was lost in Eden when Adam & Eve gave in to sin.

I know, that was a long journey through sin. But, when we go back to the verse we started with, / / “Repent of your sin and turn to God, for the Kingdom of Heaven is near.” you can hear this verse from 2 Corinthians, / / For God was in Christ, reconciling the world to himself…

Repent - have a change of mind. Recognize that the world is the Lord’s and everything in it, and that the authority of this world is not my own, it’s not my city, county, state, nation, continent, or whatever, first, but it is the Kingdom of Heaven first, and any other authority is only granted by that first authority.

Sin - if sin is defined as missing the mark, not you did bad thing and need to be punished, but there is an instruction, the word of God, and you’re missing it, and as such, you are experiencing death because the wages of sin is death.

If you remember I’ve read Deuteronomy 30:19-20 before, / / Today I have given you the choice between life and death, between blessings and curses. Now I call on heaven and earth to witness the choice you make. Oh, that you would choose life, so that you and your descendants may live! You can make this choice by loving the Lord your God, obeying him, and committing yourself firmly to him. This is the key to your life.

So we give authority to the word of God, and authority to the kingdom of God, and we make the decision to follow a better way. The God given, Holy Spirit inspired, Jesus way.

ok, that was a long way through Matthew 4:17, but these are the things we need to get through to establish what it is we are talking about.

If the Sermon on the Mount is Jesus saying, “This is what kingdom life looks like.” then we have to establish, we are in this kingdom. We are not of this world, but of His world, even though we live here, we abide by the rules, we work to love and honor people.

There’s no point in learning what the kingdom life is like if you don’t recognize the kingdom.

But we’ve established, we are under this authority whether we like it or not, and at some point we will all stand before the God of this universe, this kingdom. Paul says in Romans 14:10 that we will all stand before the judgement seat of God.

So, having established that, this morning we’re going to take a quick look at a few verses from the Sermon on the Mount that really connect with what we just read from 2 Corinthians about being ambassadors of reconciliation.

We are going to skip over what are called the Beatitudes, we are going to be starting a series on that next week, but this morning we are going to read Matthew 5:13-16 as we are finishing up these two weeks here on laying the foundation for the Sermon on the Mount and Kingdom Living.

Ok, quick recap. The Sermon on the Mount is 111 verses, 2 explanation at the front, 2 conclusion at the end, and 107 verses of straight red letter Jesus teaching in between. So this is of course, Jesus speaking, teaching those who have gathered around him:

/ / “You are the salt of the earth. But what good is salt if it has lost its flavor? Can you make it salty again? It will be thrown and trampled underfoot as worthless.

“You are the light of the world - like a city on a hilltop that cannot be hidden. No one lights a lamp and then puts it under a basket. Instead, a lamp is placed on a stand, where it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your good deeds shine out for all to see, so that everyone will praise your heavenly Father.”

Ok, so let’s first look at these two little statements in the context of who Jesus is talking to.

Jesus is talking to Jewish people. And quite frankly, Jewish people who had lost their way.

The Pharisees, who were the religious leaders, had gone so far overboard in their rules and regulations that it was a burden to people that they could not bare. Jesus would actually say later in Matthew 23:2-4, / / “The teachers of religious law and the Pharisees are the official interpreters of the law of Moses. So practice and obey whatever they tell you, but don’t follow their example. For they don’t practice what they teach. They crush people with unbearable religious demands and never lift a finger to ease the burden.”

So wether it was the pharisees that were doing it wrong in their self-centered pursuit of perfection, or the people who couldn’t measure up, Jesus is coming in with this new idea of living in the Kingdom, under its authority, rather than just following all the rules.

So, when he says, “You are the salt of the earth”, and “You are the light of the world”, He is specifically speaking to Israel who God had intended to be the salt and light of the world.

If you go all the way back to the promise of Abraham in Genesis 12, God says to him that he will make him a great nation, that he will be blessed, but that he will also be a blessing and then says in vs 3, / / …in you all the families of the earth will be blessed.

Now, in once sense that’s very much speaking of Jesus coming through the line of Israel, who would be the savior of the world. But, when you read through the Old Testament you see all these points where God says he will bless Israel, and the foreigners and gentiles living among them. God intended the world to be blessed through Israel. So what’s the challenge here?

Why have you lost your saltiness?

Why have you covered your light?

You’re supposed to be the light of the world. But you’re hiding your light.

Jesus is calling the people he’s talking to back to a place of being the light that he intended for them to be.

That’s the first part. That’s the immediate context for the people he’s talking to.

But then we also know that we are being brought into this, as gentiles, because Jesus is not just the Jewish Messiah, but He is the savior of the world, and in him we are now being brought into this kingdom family and as Paul says in 2 Corinthians, we become ambassadors through which the world will now be blessed because of what God has done in our lives. We are reconciled so that we can then bring others the message of reconciliation.

So, this message of salt and light becomes about us as well.

This is what Holman New Testament Commentary on Matthew starts with in regard to how we should understand it.

In Matthew 5:13-16 (what we are reading today), before embarking on the body of the sermon (on the mount), Jesus explained in two word pictures the impact that a truly righteous person will have on his or her world. The entire sermon, including the Beatitudes before and the many teachings after, shows us how to live as “salt and light” in the world as representatives of another kingdom. These word pictures also serve Matthew’s purpose - to encourage believers to change their world.

This is exactly what we are saying here. The Sermon on the Mount is the outline for how we are meant to live as Jesus followers and ambassadors of his kingdom.

So, the first word picture here. You are the salt of the earth.

Salt is an interesting thing, and being called salt is even more interesting.

First of all, what Jesus is not saying is that we should all get “Salt Life” stickers for our vehicles. Second, he’s not giving you permission to “be salty”, alright. That’s not what he’s saying.

But if we think, even naturally what salt does. Salt preserves. Salt adds flavor. It actually enhances the flavor of the food it’s put on. It can take something bland and bring it to life, and it can actually draw out natural flavors. And it’s small, it’s cheap, but it’s essential.

How many want to identify with that? Small, Cheap, But Essential!

So, how are we salt? Why are we salt?

/ / Salt is something that is added. We are not the main thing, but our uniqueness, our individuality, who we are, each of us are the flavor enhancer of the main dish. We are not the main dish, but we are the ones who either will make it appealing or not.

Think of it this way. Have you ever met someone who didn’t represent Jesus very well? Like, if we were going to grade their christianity, which is a horrible thing to say, but, if we were to do so, they wouldn’t score very high in the department of, “making people want to also be a Christian.”

“If you say you’re a follow of Jesus, and he’s supposed to change your life for the better, but this is what your life looks like, I’m not sure I want your particular brand of Jesus.”

And what would we say of someone like that? “Wow, they didn’t leave a very good… taste in my mouth…”

Is that Jesus fault, or is that the salt’s fault?

Don’t take this as a burden, or judgement or condemnation. This is what Jesus is saying, You are the salt. You are the thing that people will initially taste when they take a bite of the lamb who was sacrificed for them.

And he goes on to say, if you’ve lost your saltiness, what good are you? Salt that isn’t useful anymore is used to melt ice outside in the winter.

Now, I don’t want to get into it too deeply this morning, but the Old Testament relationship with salt is amazing. Leviticus says that every sacrifice should be sprinkled with salt. And in the system of sacrifice in the Old Testament, God made a way for the Levites, who were the ones who looked after the temple, and they were not allowed to have regular jobs, or own property. They relied on the other people of Israel. They ate a portion of the sacrificed meat. In Numbers 18:19 it says, / / All the holy contributions that the people of Israel present to the Lord I give to you, and to your sons and daughters with you, as a perpetual due. It is a covenant of salt forever before the Lord for you and for your offspring with you.

A covenant of Salt? The NLT says it this way, / / This is an eternal and unbreakable covenant between the LORD and you.

The salt covenant was an unbreakable covenant.

So, scripture commands every sacrifice to be sprinkled with salt.

Who is the ultimate sacrifice? Jesus, the Lamb of God, right?

In fact, he is the last sacrifice. No other sacrifice would ever be needed to cover sin. And what does he call us? The salt, in relation to how people will experience the ultimate sacrifice!

Remember what I said last week that Bonhoeffer wrote, When Christ calls a man, he bids him come and die.

Listen to what Paul says in Romans 6:5-9, / / Since we have been united with him in his death, we will also be raised to life as he was. We know that our old selves were crucified with Christ so that sin might lose its power in our lives. We are no longer slaves to sin. For when we died with Christ we were set free from the power of sin. And since we died with Christ, we know we will also live with him. We are sure of this because Christ was raised from the daed, and he will never die again. Death no longer has any power over him.

in that short little passage it says we died 4 times.

united with him in his death

our old selves were crucified with Christ

when we died with Christ

since we died with Christ

do you get what’s being said here?

What’s the connection with Salt? If every sacrifice must be sprinkled with salt, and Jesus then says we are the salt of the world, is that an invitation to go to the cross with him and forever be connected to his death, so that we might be raised to live again?

So then when Paul says that we are witnesses to the world, being ambassadors, it is the salt you taste first when you bite into a piece of meat. The way we present and represent Jesus in this earth will either be appetizing to people, or will put them off, because we are what they see, what they taste first.

So we are Christ’s ambassadors; God is making his appeal through us. We speak for Christ when we plead, “Come back to God!”

So we have to ask ourselves: Are we making a compelling, tasty plea to people to turn to God?

Then Jesus goes a step further in his next word picture.

You are the salt, but you’re also the light.

Now, I think you get the point, he’s describing that your life is a beacon, and it’s meant to be a beacon of hope, and how that happens is through living your life the way he’s about to describe over the 103 remaining verses of the sermon on the mount.

But let’s focus here for a moment, as we’re wrapping things up this morning, on the last verse of this segment of scripture.

So, Jesus says, you’re the light of the world, we don’t hide lights, but we put them on a stand so that it gives light to everyone around, and then finishes with. / / In the same way, let your good deeds shine out for all to see, so that everyone will praise your heavenly Father.

Simply put, the way you act will represent God, and you will either represent him correctly, or incorrectly.

First, what does light do? It makes things visible, right?

The Holman NT Commentary says this, / / The function of light is to make reality or truth visible, thereby giving direction and guidance by what is seen.

Now, this is a big invitation. Jesus says in John 8:12, / / “I am the light of the world. If you follow me, you won’t have to walk in darkness, because you will have the light that leads to life.”

And now in Matthew 5 he’s saying that WE are the light of the world?

So, what’s he saying in John 8?

He’s giving us the key to how you are meant to be the light of the world. Let me just be completely honest with you. Without Jesus, you have no light. Without Jesus I am pretty dull.

There’s three steps here in John 8:12

/ / 1. Jesus is the light of the world

/ / 2. We follow that light to get out of darkness.

- If you follow Jesus you will no longer be walking in the darkness that was blinding you

/ / 3. We shine that light through our lives for others

- Because following Jesus gives you the light that He is - you will have the light that leads to life.

So, if we are going to be the light of the world, it will only happen if we truly learn to follow Jesus. And following Jesus means obeying his teachings. That’s HOW you follow Jesus. He steps here, you step here, he does this, you do this, he walks that way, you walk that way.

This is why he finishes with let your good deeds shine.

What are your good deeds? Are they defined by what you think is good? Are they defined by what the world thinks is good? Or is it defined by what Jesus is saying in this sermon on the mount, and of course his other teachings, and of course the inspired word of God that is the Bible?

We’ll be getting into it in the coming weeks, but the very next verse Jesus starts telling the people about the law, the instructions, the commandments, the way of life described in the scriptures. Good deeds is not doing nice things based on human standards, it’s following God’s way of life and thus shining a light that leads people to life in Christ. Remember this all started with, “You were meant to be the salt and light from the very beginning, but you’ve lost your saltiness and you’re hiding your light.”

As you follow Jesus, your life will be full of good deeds that will bring glory to his name and will draw people to God because you are an ambassador of the Kingdom of God. You’ve been given a message of reconciliation, restoring relationship between God and humanity.

So, this is the foundation we are building on.

First, Jesus starts by saying, “Repent of your sins and turn to God.”

We have a change of mind about what it means to live and follow God.

We recognize that how we’ve been doing it has been consistently missing the mark of God’s way.

We turn to him, follow him, learn and obey his instructions.

And as we follow Jesus, our lives begin to look like Jesus because the light that he is roots out the darkness in us, replacing it with light and we become a beacon of hope in this earth. So when people see us, and experience us, they see Jesus.